New Waters
by Eternity of Night
Summary: It's been centuries since Jack saved Rapture... and it's went right back to its old state. Ten marines are sent to map out the area and gather ADAM. But they don't know what they're getting into. The city isn't the only thing with secrets... Halo-BioShock
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, so here's a BioShock-Halo crossover. And my keyboard decided to be not-gay and actually type BioShock right the first time! Woot! Mhm... so, thanks to PMOH]Winters for giving me the idea of this. If, for any reason, you read this, I will scream like a nine year old fangirl and probably faint. XD Just kidding. But, seriously, PMOH, I love your story, even though I haven't reviewed it (I'll get to it... eventually.) And, for those unaccustomed to my writing style *Coughcough*pussies*Coughcough* There will be no incest in this story. Damn. But, yes, there is romance, since I have to have some form of (hidden, usually) sex in my stories. 8'D**

The ten marines kept glancing at each other as the submarine descended. They had never worked with each other before, with the exception of two. Captain Price, Sergeants Jackson, MacTavish, and Vasquez, Lieutenants Zachary and Kamarov, and Privates Catherine, Ai, Sarah, and Gaz.

Lieutenant Zach was sitting by Ai, and his sister, Catherine, was sitting on his other side. He was talking quietly to Ai. "What's your name?" He asked, violet eyes roaming across her face. He felt Cathy's hand slide into his and clenched it quickly before releasing it.

"Ai," she muttered, blushing slightly as she averted her light silver eyes to the floor of the sub. Her light brown hair framed her face, and she was constantly pushing it out of her eyes. She glanced up at him. "What's yours?"

"Zachary," he said, smiling slightly. He ran his hand through his black hair. "This is my little sis, Cath." He raised Catherine's hand, and she turned to smile quickly at Ai.

"Hey."

Ai blushed again, looking down.

"You're really shy, aren't you?" Zach asked softly.

She nodded. "Around… other humans, really. The Covenant… yeah, just put me in the same room as them, and they're screwed."

He smirked slightly, then said, "Hey, what do you think they're going to have us do?"

Ai shrugged. "All they told me was that it was important and way under the Atlantic."

Various choruses of 'same here's rang out, one in heavily accented English.

Lieutenant Kamarov held onto his sniper rifle, sighing slightly. He had sixteen extra clips, and a shotgun. The Russian glanced around at his comrades, wishing another of his brethren was there. The English captain, Price, he had heard about but never actually worked with. Something that made the Englishman famous was that he could shoot the head of a Brute, aiming sideways, ten out of ten times… with a Magnum.

A joke about that was that "he could hit a Brute eleven out of ten times."

Zachary and Catherine Heathe were also famous, for a different reason. They never left each other's side unless they had to. They barely talked to anyone outside their immediate family. They could use anything with deadly efficiency—human or Covenant weapons, even a wrench or golf club. Zach even said he'd assassinated someone with a shoelace.

The others… Kamarov did know anything about.

Except for Ai. His brother had said that she was a complete bitch.

Jackson sighed, resting his black hair against the metal. His blue eyes rested on his friend. Vasquez was smoking a cigarette, against the rules. His blond hair was messed up, his blue eyes calm. The two had been friends since they were in fifth grade. They'd teamed up on the local bullies and kicked their asses. The two became fast friends after that.

Captain Price took one final look at his fellow marines, then his eyes rested on the American soldiers, next to Japanese woman. They all looked considerably young. The two siblings were holding hands tentatively, and the sister was looking out the window, amazed at the life. He chuckled quietly. He took another glance at the only other British marines, Soap and Gaz. His hand ran through his dark brown hair, and his brown eyes rested on the ceiling. Soap. Black hair, black eyes, slightly tanned skin. Really pale, really… Gaz, brown hair, black eyes.

And the other American… Sarah. She was sitting away from the others, her head hung, blond hair covering her eyes. She glanced up suddenly, maroon eyes quickly sweeping the area, then her head lowered again.

"We're here," one of the crewmen said, an ex-ODST soldier. "Rapture… have fun, kids. You'll have reinforcements in a few hours. Four SPARTAN-IIIs. Heh… feet first into hell… good luck." And then the door opened and they walked out.

They were on the surface, outside of a lighthouse. Cathy gripped her brother's hand even tighter. "Why'd they send us in a sub?" Ai asked softly.

"Fastest vehicle they had available," Zach replied, grabbing her wrist. "Come on." He pulled his sister and Ai up the stairs, and eventually released Ai. They came to a doorway, a giant one, and they walked in. A few moments after they were all in, the door shut, and lights turned on, showing a banner: "No gods or kings. Only men."

They stared at it for a moment, then looked past it, to a set of stairs, and walked down them, then another flight.

And there was an old-fashioned, 21st century bathysphere. They crowded inside it, and Ai pulled the lever. A small screen came up, and a video started to play.

"I'm Andrew Ryan, and I'm here to ask you a question… is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? No, says the man in Washington. It belongs to the poor! No, says the man in the Vatican, it belongs to God! No, says the man in Moscow, it belongs to everyone!

"I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose… Rapture." The screen lifted, revealing a huge city… underwater. They all sucked in a breath.

"It's beautiful," Ai whispered.

Ryan continued.

"A city where the artist would not fear the censor, where the great would not be constrained by the small, where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality."

"Obviously, he hasn't seen 2552 Earth." The all laughed quietly.

"And, with the sweat of your brow… Rapture could become your city, as well."

After a few moments of beautiful underwater scenery, the bathysphere was set into a frame, and started sliding forwards. Letters lit up as they moved forwards. 'All good things,' 'Of the world,' 'Flow into the city.' The radio on the wall crackled to life.

"Okay, so you're in Rapture. We didn't tell you because, seriously, this place is a hellhole. Which is also why we gave you enough ammo and food to last a year. Don't worry, you'll only be here a day or two… three at the most. You have to map out the area, and… bring back some plasmids, kiddies."

The transmission ended. They stared at it for a moment as the bathysphere ascended. "Stay sharp, marines," Price said. "We don't know what to expect."

Zach placed his hand on the door, and was just about to open it, when the radio turned on again. A German accent came over. "Wait! Do not open it!" The voice was distinctly a woman's. "There is a Splicer. Just wait a moment."

They waited, and something flashed by them. Then gunshots and a scream. "All right, you can come out. Take the radio with you."

Ai grabbed the radio, tucking it into a pocket. They exited slowly, weapons raised and aimed. Once they were sure the area was clear, they walked forward cautiously. The bathysphere descended behind them. There were various signs scattered around, but no one took notice of them.

"I notice you have weapons already… good. I am Maria Tenenbaum. I will help to keep you alive."

Zach frowned, and snatched the radio, clicking the button that allowed him to talk. "Miss Tenenbaum, how can we trust you?"

"You can't, really, and I do not blame you, Marine. Ah… my sisters… they bring me news from the outside world from time to time. It… has changed greatly, as I understand."

"Damn right. We got murderers, thieves, and fucking aliens all over our asses up there."

"Aliens…?…other than those, I fear Rapture is much the same."

Ai snorted. "If there's no Covenant, this place might as well be heaven."

"This is far from heaven… Splicers are everywhere. ADAM is much too abundant… keep walking, _gottverdammt_!"

They complied.

"It started in the year… oh, what was it? I think it was 2000. My ancestor, Dr. Bridget Tenenbaum, started distributing small amounts of ADAM back throughout the city. Shortly before she died, she tasked one of her daughters, Miranda, to do the same. She did, and quite well, for a while.

"But then she made a mistake. She grew careless. She let ADAM black markets spring up. Soon, there were Little Sisters crawling everywhere again… and the Splicers were still in a good enough mental state to reproduce. They stayed that way, horribly for us. They're cunning, now, and hard to defeat. The Big Daddies, who protect the Little Sisters, they can kill many of them… but they're swarming."

As she stopped talking, they stopped walking. They were in a large, lobby-like area. "Weapons up, marines," Price ordered, and they happily complied.

Zach had a shotgun; Ai had a battle rifle; Catherine had a rocket launcher; Kamarov had a sniper rifle; the rest had assault rifles.

Kamarov swept the area with the biosensor on his sniper rifle before the others advanced cautiously, Price taking point with assault rifle raised. The doors slid open, and there was someone standing there. He glanced up at them, and grinned. "Why, hello, there…" He advanced slowly.

Price didn't hesitate. He shot the ugly thing down.

"Good choice. There are stairs to your right, Marines. What are your names, hm? I will need to know later."

"Zach."

"Cath."

"Ai…"

"Price."

"Jackson."

"Vasquez."

"Soap."

"Gaz."

"Kamarov."

They all glanced at Sarah, who hadn't said a word… ever.

She glared at them all, intense maroon eyes burning with a hate that surprised them all. "I won't say a word to her."

There was a small intake of breath on the radio. "I remember that voice…" Maria said softly.

"No, you don't," Sarah snapped.

"Sarah. Sarah Azekail."

**A/N: DUNDUNDUNNNN... And so, I have a cliffhanger that no one will understand until next chapter. Woot.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, so, many thanks to Raptor-19 for letting me use four of his 'Zulu company'. In fact, don't sit here and read my story. Back out to Halo, go down, and read Zulu Company: The Last Stand. Do it now. I don't care. Read all fifty-one chapters. Except, in this, chapter fifty -one never happened. NEVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVER!!!! EEVAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!**

**Ahem. Excuse me.**

**For the armor... well, if you'd read Zulu Company like I'd told you to, you wouldn't have to ask, now, would you? Go read it, right. Freaking. Nao. Oh. While we're talking stories, go check out "Love of a Spartan", too. It's pretty good.**

**Now, read.**

"Keep walking," Sarah ordered.

"Azekail, Azekail, Azekail… Oh. I remember now."

"Shut up!" She screamed into the radio.

"Sarah Azekail. You… you were a grandchild of Amelia Azekail. You are the descendant of a Little Sister."

"_Don't say her goddamned name!_" Sarah screamed before she smashed the radio into the wall.

Everyone raised their weapons, concerned about their comrade's mental health.

She took several deep breaths, then said, slowly, "Follow me. I'll lead you to her."

Zach moved towards her slowly, and put his hand on her shoulder, forcing her to face him. "Sarah… are you okay?"

Her maroon eyes softened. "Yeah. I'm fine. I… I just don't like people saying… her name. I mean, seriously, who wants to say that their grandmother was an insane woman who would stand over corpses and call just about everyone 'Mr. Bubbles'?…her… mental conditioning never wore off." She sighed.

"Come on." She took the lead, assault rifle relaxed. Zach stayed directly behind her, relaxed and tense at the same time.

They were only attacked once, and Sarah merely smashed in the Splicer's head with the butt of her assault rifle. Calmly, of course.

And then she continued.

As she walked, she talked. She explained more of Rapture. "We weren't told much. Rapture was built by Andrew Ryan, a really long time ago. They practically rebuilt it in 1997. It's connected by underwater tunnels, bathyspheres, and a whole load of other stuff." She paused, touching a machine. It had 'Gatherer's Garden' on it. "So many memories that aren't mine…" She grabbed a vial and a needle.

She, first, stuck the needle inside the vial, which had some liquid in it, then she injected herself. She let out a soft sigh, then turned to Zach. "Inject yourself," she ordered. "You'll need the Plasmids down here."

He cooperated, filling up the needle and then pushing it into his arm… and then the liquid slowly oozed into his bloodstream. Immediately, he felt lightheaded, and his vision started going hazy. He staggered, off balance.

"Easy, Zach," Sarah murmured, holding onto his shoulders, "it'll pass… your body isn't used to the plasmid. Your genes are being rearranged."

He twisted away from her, overwhelming agony passing through his body in spasms. He let out a low groan, staring at the others.

"Hold him down," Sarah calmly ordered Catherine and Ai. "Jackson, Vasquez, Price, make yourself useful and watch around. The Splicers can come from anywhere. Soap, Gaz, Kamarov, scout ahead." They all complied with her orders… after all, she had more experience. "Not too far, though." The three nodded.

Zach tried to twist away, now screaming in agony. And then he blacked out.

"Is he okay?" Catherine asked quietly, very concerned for her brother's safety.

"Yes," Sarah replied, kneeling by Zach and lightly caressing his face. "He's pretty strong… any other man probably would have pitched himself off the edge."

Catherine blushed. "Oh, he's strong all right… once we were drunk, and I took off my clothes, and… well, nothing happened. And when I say drunk, I mean so drunk, we couldn't tell left from right or… well, even up from right."

Ai stared at her for a moment. "Uh, that's kinda gross."

Cath shrugged. "I'm tired. I get a little… weird when I'm tired."

Zach groaned quietly, attracting their attention to him. He sat up slowly, and looked himself over. He quickly noticed his hands. "Oh, Christ… what the hell?"

Cath and Ai both looked; his hand was almost normal, except for blue electricity running between his fingers and blue light pulsing in his veins.

"ElectroBolt," Sarah said, grinning slightly. "Feels good now, doesn't it? That's the power of ADAM. Glorious, glorious power. It's a natural instinct to use it now, isn't it? Your genes were rearranged to accept the plasmid… just be careful in using it."

She handed him several vials of blue liquid. "This is EVE. You need EVE to harness ADAM. You'll know when you need more."

She glanced at the others. "We ready to move?"

Soap nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Clear ahead."

Sarah walked past them, still casual. When she spotted a Splicer corpse, she knelt down and rifled through its pockets, taking out three EVE hypos, handing two to Zach and keeping the other for herself. And then she kept walking.

"She should be holed up in Point Prometheus," Sarah muttered to herself.

There was a faint crackling. "Private Sarah, come in. This is SPARTAN-III, Victoria. They're not monitoring this, so don't bother with formalities. I don't really care for them anymore."

Sarah pulled out her pocket radio, taking a deep breath. "Hey, Victoria. We'll stay in one spot. I'll set down a Marker for you." Sarah pulled out the small disk, setting it on the ground and pressing a button. "There. Confirm you see the marker on your HUD."

"Yeah, I see it. Give us a minute or two to figure out this damned place."

"Who do you have with you?" Sarah asked casually as she sat down.

"Zeke, Jason, Magnus."

Sarah sighed. "Try not to let your rivalry get in the way, Victoria."

"Psh. Please. Me and Zekey are over that… _aren't_ we, Zeke?"

"Ow, ow, ow, fuck… Christ, what was that for? Yeah, we're over it, for the most part."

Then the four Spartans were standing over them.

Victoria had a plasma rifle on her right leg, and a shotgun across her back. She was holding a battle rifle.

Ezekiel had a shotgun and a sniper rifle.

Magnus had an assault rifle, rocket launcher, and two Magnums.

Jason had a gravity hammer, an energy sword on his leg, and a shotgun.

"These," Victoria said, holding out her shotgun, "were specially modified to take any kind of shotgun shell." She grinned.

Sarah nodded. "Now, we have to hurry. We have to meet Maria."

"The bitch?"

Sarah smiled, laughing quietly. "Yeah."

They started walking again, a Spartan on each side.

"Our new armor is awesome," Victoria said, grinning behind her helmet. "Grenades are pulled magnetically into our suits, and when we want to use one, it primes it and spits it into our hands."

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "And the same things from your old permutations are still there?" Victoria nodded. "Nice."

Ezekiel growled lowly. "I smell blood… there's too much. What the hell happened?"

"You just walked straight into hell," Sarah said. "Deal with it." She cocked her head to the side slightly. "You guys are different. What happened?"

"The War happened," Zeke said. "Nine months off duty happened. Deal with it. Do you know what nine months _off duty_ means? It means no training. It means that I actually have time to relax. It means that I—that we all—have time to change."

"Not enough, for you," Victoria said. "You're still too damn arrogant."

Zeke scowled. "Hey, shut up."

Sarah glanced at Magnus and Jason. "Why haven't they talked?"

"They've only been on leave eight months," Victoria said. "They got their vocal cords smashed in a raid against the remnants of the Covenant. They were about to get fixed when they were called out for this mission."

"Splicer," Sarah called casually. One of the blades on Zeke's armor glowed and he shoved it through the Splicer's throat. It fell to the ground, and Sarah casually rifled through its pockets, picking out a few more hypos and a first aid kit. She pulled out the needle, full of a special type of ADAM. It fixed wounds, nothing else.

Zach coughed quietly. "How do you know them?"

Sarah shrugged nonchalantly. "We fought together a couple times."

"And she saved my ass," Victoria said, grinning slightly. "His, too," she said, cocking her head towards Ezekiel, who scowled.

"The damn Brute snuck up on me, and I would have gotten it if—"

"Yeah, yeah," Sarah said, "you could've gotten it. After it smashed your skull in, but, yeah, you could've gotten it."

Everyone cracked a smile, except Ezekiel, who just scowled and retreated into sulky silence.

"How's Demon?" Sarah asked casually, smirking.

Zeke groaned. "Take a guess. It's a wonder I haven't had the damn AI deleted."

"Still there, I'm guessing," Sarah muttered.

"And now he has a holographic form, so he can annoy me incessantly in _person._"

Victoria laughed. "Both our AI were upped to 'smart' AI, like Cortana. Gael got a form, too, and they can change at will."

Sarah stopped abruptly. "Wait. This is too easy… usually, there's a whole shitload of Splicers crawling everywhere."

And then the lights turned off.

"You just had to say something," Zeke said sarcastically, scowling. "You just had to."

"Any handy tricks?" Sarah asked nervously. "They'll be swarming."

"Yeah," Zeke said. "How about this." A plasma grenade appeared in his hand, and he threw it. A quick flash and four Splicers down.

The four Spartans turned on the flashlights on their helmets, and the marines turned on the flashlights on their assault rifles—and, in Zach's case, shotgun.

"NEWS," Sarah muttered.

The Spartans all nodded, taking their places at four points: north, east, west, south. Victoria, Ezekiel, Magnus, and Jason, respectively.

Something dropped down, and a marine screamed.

Jackson grabbed the hook off his face, and felt a lot of his skin come off. He let out another scream.

Another hook pierced his eye and he fell silent. Zach raised his shotgun and shot a Splicer off the ceiling. "You didn't tell us they were on the damned ceilings," he hissed.

"I didn't think there were any Spider Splicers!" Sarah cried frantically.

Zeke blasted a Splicer right in the face. "These damn things have names?"

"Yeah, for the different types," Sarah said as she shot another one. "Leadheads are the ones on the ground with wrenches, pipes, other melee stuff. Sometimes pistols and machine guns. Spiders crawl on the ceilings, have hooks. Houdinis… they're the most dangerous. They can appear and disappear on whim."

"Any here?"

Then, Gael appeared.

Her avatar was a blue woman, wearing a light red dress with dark, indigo hair. "Nothing strange on radar. Just a bunch of red dots running around."

"Enough," Zeke snapped. "Vic, let's show them what we can do. Demon, guide my armor."

A laugh. Then the two were gone. Screams echoed for a few seconds.

Ezekiel and Victoria reappeared, grinning slightly. "Let's go." The lights slowly flickered back on, revealing dozens of corpses. Sarah nearly hurled.

"Yeah," she said, carefully keeping her eyes from the marine corpse. "Let's go."

**A/N: Okay. Jackson down. Three more to go... maybe six. Maybe I only want three marines to live. You'll never know... muhahahaha.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, here's chapter three. Yay. And whatever. 8D**

Ezekiel Veron groaned slightly. "This is the sixth—hear me, the sixth—damn time we were attacked! In the last _five minutes!_"

"Ah, quit bitching," Victoria said, grinning as she pulled her armor's blades through another Splicer neck.

He scowled, pushing the energy sword easily through a Splicer.

He glanced back at the marines. His prospect on the 'normal' soldiers hadn't changed much: Keep them as far from the Spartans as possible.

A slight crackling. A voice by Sarah said, presumably from her radio, "Hold on. I am sending help." The girl had a heavy German accent.

Zeke shoved the spike, which was glowing hot with plasma, through a Splicer's spinal cord. "Good. These things are fucking swarming."

And then there was a loud rumbling. The Splicer's paid it no heed, but the Spartans noticed, and the marines did too, once the ground started shaking.

And then, four… things ran into the fray.

They were basically oversized diver suits with giant drills, and they killed off most of the Splicers. The others fled.

"What the hell…?" Zach stared in amazement. Catherine nodded slightly.

"Seriously. What the hell."

Ai giggled slightly.

Sarah squealed. "Mr. Bubbles!" She ran up to one, hugging it. It let out a low groan, and wrapped the non-drill arm around her, and glanced back at us.

"No, no, Mr. Bubbles, they're our friends. All of them. But not the mean ones, that want to hurt me. But you scared them all away!"

"Mental conditioning is hereditary," Victoria breathed.

Sarah blinked and coughed. "Yeah. It is."

Zach nodded. "Uh-huh. Can we just get moving?"

"That would be advisable," Maria said. "There are more Splicers coming."

They moved quickly, Zeke taking point.

———————

They walked for two hours, before Maria said, "You can stop now. It is safe with the Big Daddies there. Do not go anywhere without one of them, or one of your super soldiers accompanying you."

"They're called Spartans," Sarah said, "but thank you for inflating Zeke's ego even more."

A faint laugh.

Zach simply collapsed. "Jesus. I know we have, like, this kick-ass stamina and shit, but there's so much we can take!"

Cath giggled and laid next to her brother, hugging him. "Ah, quit complaining, Zach."

He silenced immediately, hugging her body closer and taking in a deep breath.

Cath nestled her face in his shoulder, and his breathing slowed until he was asleep, his breath soft on her skin.

"He sure likes you," Ai muttered.

"In a weird way," Zeke added.

She shrugged. "You try living on the streets seventeen years and not getting close to your brother. Besides, it's not like we're making out or anything."

"Although it would be kinda cool to see," Sarah muttered to herself.

"Ew! Freaking weirdo! You're saying you want me to make out with my brother?" Cath glared in a way that made Sarah shiver.

"Uh, no…?" Sarah blinked and blushed. "Okay, fine, I do. I think it's hot."

Cath scowled and hugged her brother tighter. "You're just lucky I'm comfortable… Ai, can you smack her, please?"

Ai obligingly smacked Sarah on the back of the head.

"Oww… okay, so I have a weird quirk—"

"Fetish," Victoria corrected.

Sarah ignored her. "I like incest. So what?"

"So," Cath said, "you're sick in the head."

Sarah clicked her tongue. "Hm. Would you kindly kiss your brother?"

Cath felt her self-control leave, and she kissed her brother softly on the lips.

"What…" She shuddered at the pleasant, but horrible feeling. "…what just happened?"

"Mental conditioning is hereditary," Sarah murmured. "Even if it's removed." Sarah flashed a smile at them. "Get some sleep. Ponder about your little kiss when you wake up. And, would you kindly kiss him again when you're both up?"

Sarah flashed a cheeky smile at Cath shortly before she fell asleep.

———————

"What the hell did Sarah do?" Zeke asked Victoria quietly. They were sitting alone, with a Big Daddy guarding them.

Victoria shrugged. "Some of that mental shit, I guess."

Zeke sighed and gave her a quick hug. "'Night, Vic."

Victoria smiled, slightly awkwardly, behind her helmet. "Goodnight," she replied, hugging him back.

Their relationship had improved into something resembling a sibling relationship. It was still somewhat awkward, though—they were still rivals, proved by the occasional shove into a wall, which usually broke the wall.

Sarah sat next to the two. "Cute," she remarked.

"Just a brother and sister," Zeke reminded her softly. "You know everything about Zulu company and we know just about nothing about you. And after the shit you just pulled, I want an explanation."

"In the morning," Sarah said, breezily. "Everyone's gonna explain their pasts in the morning."

Zeke sighed, but fell silent. He drifted off slowly…

————————

Zach opened his eyes and stretched, feeling his sister laying close to his side.

He smiled slightly and shook her shoulder. "Wake up, sis."

She blinked sleepily, then drew him into a hug and kissed him gently on the lips. Cath closed her eyes again, hand sliding into his hair and holding him close.

Blinking in surprise, he attempted to pull away, but she just hugged him closer. "Love you," she mumbled half-consciously.

He relaxed slightly. She wasn't fully awake. He shook her again. "Wake up, sis," he murmured.

She yawned and stretched, opening her eyes fully. "Morning," she mumbled.

He hugged her. "Morning," he replied.

Zach looked at the Spartans. "Good morning."

Zeke grunted, not answering.

"Don't be an ass," Zach muttered, pulling out a sword handle, a Greek kind. "Nobody really likes it."

"You're threatening me because I'm impolite?" Zeke laughed coldly. "Really. That's just retard—" He stopped as he felt the heat of plasma close to his neck. He let out a breath. "You have an energy sword?"

"Not like you're used to," Zach said. "But yes. I haven't gotten any respect my entire life, and I want some now, even if you think you're faster than me and can beat me easily."

Zeke snorted. "Think?"

Zach shifted Victoria off him easily, and his veins turned blue. Electricity crackled at his fingertips. "I bet you think you're better than us all." Zach concentrated it into a ball, and closed his hand into a fist. "But, in the end, you're only human." He punched Zeke, right in his armored chest, watching in satisfaction as the currents ran across the metal.

"Jeez," Ai mumbled sleepily. "Anger management."

Zach rolled his eyes. "I don't have an anger problem. Well… I kinda do. But, really, when you live on the streets for seventeen years and the only way people'll respect you is if you can beat the shit out of 'em—and they're still liable to slit your throat in your sleep—then you want a little normal respect."

Zeke glared angrily, raising his arm—

And Magnus stopped him, shaking his head.

Retracting his arm, Zeke growled lowly. "You're gonna pay for that," he promised Zach.

The nineteen year old smirked. "Mhm. Try it."

Sarah sat up slowly. "Both of you, shut the fuck up. Try anything and I'll shoot you both in the head… or I'll get Price to do it."

"What?" It was the first time any but the three marines had spoken; the rest had kept silent out of pure habit. Captain Price looked at Sarah incredulously.

Sarah just smirked at him. "I can."

Vic shook her head. "Get the others up. Let's get moving… and, Zeke, if you touch that marine, I'll shove a plasma blade through your neck."

————————

Ai hung close to Zach's side. She had one arm hesitantly halfway wrapped around his waist, and he wasn't paying it any mind. Her free hand was holding her Magnum carefully.

Cath whispered in Ai's ear, "Arm around him or off him."

She blinked, blushed, and nodded, sliding her arm all the way around him. "How much longer?" She called softly ahead to Sarah.

"A few seconds," Sarah replied. "There's a bathysphere up here."

She paused. "Marines first, then the Spartans. There was hardly enough room in there for us all coming down, and this is hardly bigger."

She lead the marines into the bathysphere and pulled the lever. The door swung shut and they descended.

————————

Zeke watched the bathysphere go down. He sighed. "Those things take fucking forever, I'm guessing."

The other three nodded.

"Well, fuck." He sat down. "Relax, guys, if something living moves an inch, the sensors'll pick it up."

Victoria obligingly stretched out next to him. "Well, we'll be here for…" She glanced at Zeke.

"Eight minutes and thirty-two seconds," he mumbled half-consciously. "If it's the same speed as the one we came in and my distance is correct. These maps suck…"

Jason smiled behind his helmet. Zeke hadn't changed much, really.

————————

"We know nothing about each other," Sarah said, "so we're all going to tell what we know about our pasts." Her eyes had flickered to Zach and Cath on 'know'.

"We lived on the streets since we were two," Zach said, resting his hand lightly on his sister's. "We were raised to be fighters. We joined the military because it suits our style."

Ai sighed. "My dad killed himself and my mom died birthing me. The foster home I was in when I was fifteen…" She shuddered. "The two foster parents, they were nice, really nice. Said… we were all a family." She let out a dry laugh. "The other kids must've loved incest, then. I was the only virgin there. They'd have sex right in front of me, try to make me join with them… truthfully, I joined the army at sixteen just to get away from it."

Zach slid his hand over to Ai's and squeezed it gently. She flashed a grateful smile at him.

"Mine's nothin' special," Price said. "Joined the army to fight for Earth."

Gaz smirked slightly, and spoke, in the same English accent as Price. "Me 'n' Soap, we were friends since we were little kids. Made a habit of stealing whatever we could get our hands on. Got so bad, they gave us a choice: military or prison. Take a guess which one we picked."

Kamarov stayed silent.

"What about you?" Sarah asked, her eyes glinting mischievously.

"…my father… he was strict. If I got out of line, he would hit me." He sighed. "My mother moved from Russia to America. I don't blame her. I…" He shuddered. "…I killed my father. They ordered me to join the army or die."

Sarah smiled slightly. "I understand why you would kill him, Kamarov. I have someone inside the UNSC technicians run background checks on people I'm going on missions, and you were the only one I was worried about, because they didn't include your reason."

Kamarov smiled slightly. "Nice to know you trust so easily."

Sarah turned to Zach. "You say you assassinated someone with a shoelace. Is it true?"

He grinned slightly. "Yup. I was on a mission to kill John Black—you know him?" They all nodded. The person that tried to rise to the top through less than acceptable means. "I killed him. I wasted all my ammo on his guys, took my shoelace out of my boot, and snuck up on him. I'm sure you know what happens."

"A slow death," Sarah noted.

Zach shrugged. "Asshole deserved it."

There was a sudden lurch as the bathysphere stopped. Zach glanced out the window.

The door opened, and they walked out. Cath slipped her hand inside Zach's.

And then a girl was racing down the stairs. She had slightly dark skin, mostly pale skin, black hair, and, as she came closer, strange, yellow-goldish eyes. She squealed when she saw Zach and Cath. "Cousins!" She said it in the same German accent and voice as the one talking to them over the radio. She hugged the two.

"You're Maria Tenenbaum?" Kamarov asked softly, doubting it. How could this girl, who could be no more than thirteen… have guided them?

Sarah smirked. "Yeah, that's her."

**A/N: Pewpewlazar. REVIEW!**


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